Our World, Our War, Our Destiny
by ForestCityJames
Summary: "I never thought that my day would change on a Tuesday. I'd get up, go to work and then meet family and friends for my 42nd birthday, turns out there are some things I can't avoid...like getting shot down in my state of the art fighter jet over the cosmodrome. I thought that when I closed my eyes they wouldn't open but..." "eye's up Guardian!" "turns out that it's time to wake up"
1. The worst Tuesday ever!

**Our World, Our War…Our Destiny!**

It all started as one of "those" days…you know, the one's where you can just feel in your heart, in your bones…in your very soul that today: September 29th 2037 would be the day you got your ass handed to you on a bright silver platter… and it wasn't even a Monday.

Today was my 42nd birthday and I had some really big plans. Was going to go to work and test out the new modifications my best friend and boss (kinda) had put on my personal fighter jet before heading out on a patrol and then a night on the town with my friends and family. I got dressed in my usual cargo camo pants, black T-shirt, black leather jacket and riding gloves and headed out to my second pride and joy: a 2027 Harley Davidson iron 883 that I've kept in the best condition possible. The sky was clear and cloudless, the wind crisp and clean, the day was perfect…too perfect for and ace pilot reaching the end of his rope and still bogged down in a war. The ride in to sand island air base was quiet and free of cars which was to be expected with how early I left. I got to base, parked and changed into my flight suit before my best friend and founder/CEO of **Van Spronsen Robotics** , Logan Van Spronsen, met me at my jet.

"you know that we could always do these tests after your morning flight, right?" he says to me while not looking up from his laptop which was plugged in to a small port on the dashboard of my cockpit. "yeah but then that would give you time to refuse to work on my baby here" I replied with a big grin "coffee?" I offer while handing him a hot cup of fresh coffee. "thanks. I'm just finishing up the last few tweaks to the 'foundry system' we installed a few months back, there shouldn't be any more problems with the missiles jamming as they will be loaded right into the cradles BUT that doesn't mean you can spam them because the foundry still has to build new missiles. The build time was also cut down to 20 seconds as opposed to the original 30" he says as he sips his coffee in between sentences. "whoa dude, slow down! Your gonna lose me if you keep doing that!" I say while I chuckle lightly "but seriously, 20 seconds is the best you can do? 5 is all it takes for a missile to lock and launch" I tell him, my voice dropping to a grim tone showing how well I knew that specific statistic. "I'm sorry James but that's the best we can do for now. Brennan is working on mock-ups of better systems but until then 20 is the best we can do" he sighs, knowing how touchy this subject is for the both of us.

I just pat him on the shoulder and tell him to go to the tower and do his geek thing, we share a laugh before he heads toward the air traffic control tower. After a successful test flight and follow up diagnostics check it's time for my regular patrol of sand island and the area around the Russian cosmodrome seeing as how **VSR** had a contract with the neutral zone the cosmodrome rests in. Taking off from sand island…my base…my home…little did I know that it would be the last time I would see my home in a long time to come.

* * *

My patrol was going well and undisturbed until I entered the neutral airspace of the cosmodrome…that's when all hell broke loose. "Cosmodrome control, this is Razgriz 1 requesting patrol route over" I say for what seems like the thousandth time, I here static for a little while until the tower connects and the controller's panicked voice filters into my helmet "Razgriz 1 thank god you're here! The red army has attacked our border patrols and we have pulled all forces back to defend the Cosmodrome!" **_'Shit! Looks like my plans are going on hold.'_** I think to myself "Cosmodrome tower I read you loud and clear, I'll radio back to sand island and then provide close air support for your ground troops". After connecting to sand island and getting confirmation of reinforcements being sent in an hour I prepare for a long battle of attrition with the forces of the red army.

* * *

"Logan! I'm low on missiles and these bastards keep coming! I need more ammo **NOW!** " I yell into my radio as I dodge yet another shoulder-launched-SAM and swing around to spray the area with heavy machine gun fire. "there's nothing we can do right now James! There's a reason your 'foundry' can only make so many and that's because the battery wears out from excessive use like **RIGHT NOW!** " he yells back, more than likely pissed at himself for missing something so obvious before now than he is at me. "look, just hold on for a few more minutes and the reinforcements will be able to take the heat off of you for a while" he says while I hear him furiously typing away on his ever present laptop, likely putting together small scale blueprints to fix this issue. "glad I drag your ass out of bed at such 'ungodly hours' now?" I snipe back to him as I maneuver around the large battlefield lending support in the form of air strikes and suppressive fire where needed. "you owe me for thi- **SHIT!** " ***KRA-BAM!*** the radio is then flooded with some static and enough cursing to make a sailor blush. Logan listens on worriedly and when a break presents itself he gets my attention. "James! What happened?! Are you okay?" there is a pause of static and then *sigh* "son of a bitch got me with a shoulder SAM, not too bad but whatever he hit me with is messing up my plane bad. I've lost connection to the foundry which means no missiles but I've still got plenty of ammo in my guns. My electronics are acting up though, gonna have to bail soon…" a sudden beeping catches my attention "…fantastic, make that now. Just lost everything...whatever they hit me with has almost literally gutted my plane". As I speak Logan's face gets paler and paler to the point he looks white as a sheet. "James, you need to bail out right now! We can build a new plane for you easily but you need to get out now!" the whole tower has gone quiet now as Logan attempts to get through to my damaged craft. "not sure if you can hear me dude but I need you to do me a favor…tell my family I'm sorry I can't make it to dinner tonight." I say with a small grin as I see the dropships carrying not only the Reinforcements for the Cosmodrome but my best friend for the last 22 years. I look up to the clear blue, cloudless sky one least time before darkness claims my vision for the last time.

. . . .

… … … …

Eyes up guardian!

 **Important AN:**

 **I am in no way abandoning "The Veiled Secret of Remnant" but I've been stuck on a few things and my work schedule is erratic at best. I will be doing my best and hopefully have something for you guys soon with my friends helping me not only with this story but with TVSoR as well. I appreciate your patience and apologize for taking so long.**

PS. I don't own anything except...well myself. all ownership goes to Bungie (destiny) and whoever owns Ace Combat 5: unsung war.


	2. Our End is Only the Beginning

**Our World, Our War, Our Destiny!**

The day was perfect, blue and cloudless, too perfect for a funeral but that is what's happening…my best friends funeral. There aren't too many of us attending, just family and friends allowed, but I can't bring myself to shed even one tear because he wouldn't have wanted anyone to cry for him.

"would anyone like to say a few words about the dearly departed?" said Pope Michael the First who was presiding over the funeral of James Jackman, ace pilot, base commander of sand island and hero of the Cosmodrome. I stand and slowly walk to the podium, and look down at my pre-made speech…and set it down. I look over the gathered crowd, take a deep breath and begin the single hardest thing I've had to do in the last month.

"thank you your holiness for that beautiful service. I'm sure I speak for us all when I say that no one could have done a better job." The pope nods and gestures for me to continue "friends…no, not friends" I say with a shake of my head and look up in thought "Family…yeah, that sounds better" I say with a nod and look out once more at the crowd, my eyes catching the eyes of James' direct family. "gathered family both by blood and in all but, we are gathered here for one simple reason. Not because a great man, a son" I see the tears in James' mom's eyes, begging to be let free but barely held back, his dad standing beside her with an almost unreadable expression on his face…almost. "A brother" I see Nicole, James' sister, and her husband Anthony not too far from her parents. "A hero to many but most important of all, he is- was my best friend and often we would joke about how our funeral's would go." I turn to the empty casket and slowly slide two hundred dollar bills inside with a bitter sweet smile on my face and turn back to the podium.

"this isn't how I wanted to win our bet" I chuckle bitterly, getting a small chuckle from the crowd as well. "but I remember something he said to me a few months back and now…it's all too clear. He said to me 'Logan, how do you see your funeral going?' and I replied with the general funeral, you know, the ones you see in movies. And he said to me 'that's not what I want'" I take a deep, steadying breath and look out to the crowd with my bitter tears finally making their way down my face. "I'm going to do what James would have wanted. I'm going to go to the nearest bar, I'm going to get thoroughly plastered and I'm going to tell every story I have in celebration that I got to meet the man who brought this great big family together instead of mourn the fact that he's not here because I know for a fact that if he was here then he would slap me on the back, toss a beer in my hand and say 'lighten up Logan, your way too serious'." After that I leave the stage, pass a note to Brennan and make a bee line right for my car.

* * *

After some final tinkering I take a few steps back and wait for any signs of life and after a few seconds I see the eye shields on the new proto-type robotic platform open. The robot sits up, looks around and finally looks at me "good to finally put a proper face to you uncle" the robot says as the metal plates acting like a mouth curve into a small smile "good to see you too Rasputin" I say while smiling at my best friend's pseudo son and my pseudo nephew. It's been three years since James died protecting the Cosmodrome and, by proxy, his son Rasputin. Now I don't mean son as in by birth he was just the one running constant maintenance on Rasputin and one day, when Rasputin gained sentience for the first time, he referred to James as father. "I just wish father could be here to see his ideas bear fruit…" Rasputin looks down with a solemn look on his face "hey" I pat him on the shoulder, forcing him to look at me "I know he is up there flying at ridiculous speeds and watching us all with pride" I smile as I speak.

Suddenly Rasputin looks at me with alarm and horror all over his face "MAN THE PERIMETER!" I hear in my face and over the loud speaker "HEAVY ENEMY FORCE INBOUND! THIS IS NOT A DRILL. REPEAT, NOT A DRILL!" I access the perimeter camera's and long range scanners and see tens of thousands of Red Army soldiers bearing down on us without warning. "how…how is this possible?" I turn to Rasputin "how did they get so close to us without us noticing?! We have outposts, long range scanners, SATELLITES for crying out loud!"

I start to pace as I rant, trying to figure this out. "Uncle please, you need to see to the defense with uncle Brennan" I look over to Rasputin as Brennan rushes in "Logan! What are we going to do?! They are right on our door step!" he yells and as he gets to me I slap him across the face and grab his collar "shut up and get a hold of yourself! You are a commander and these people look up to you!" it gets quiet for a while and Brennan's eyes focus a little more "thanks dude, I needed that. What needs doing?" I let go of him and look at Rasputin's old terminal "I'll coordinate the evac while you go out and organise a solid defense" I look at Rasputin "you need to hide. No matter what you need to keep yourself hidden and away from the enemy. Do whatever it takes to protect yourself." Rasputin looks at me and sees the look of pure resolve in my eyes "as you say uncle" he sighs "shall I continue on with our RnD while hidden?" he asks while preparing to leave his new physical platform "as much as you can…regardless of what happens today" I turn and head out to help Brennan with the defense. Rasputin stops me as I open the door "farewell…uncle Logan". I slowly exit the reinforced command room as I hear Rasputin's vacated body hit the floor.

As I leave the room I'm staggered by the amount of comms traffic hitting me like a solid wall. Among them is confirmation that the final civilian shuttle is leaving now "Logan, where are you?!" I hear from Brennan as I sprint for the main entrance "just left the command room, got confirmation of the last civilian shuttle leaving" I relay back to him "that's all good but they are launching missiles at us…FUCKING MISSILES!" that stops me for a second as I realize how badly they want to destroy the Cosmodrome if the Red Army is resorting to long range missiles "focus on the troops and I'll help the anti air" I make my way outside just in time to see Brennan get skewered by a missile and look up just in time to see at least a dozen more arcing down toward us. I close my eyes and send a message to Rasputin "stay secret…stay safe" as darkness takes over me.

… … … …

Eyes up Guardian!

* * *

 **AN: for the disclaimer see chapter one. veiled secret of remnant will continue in a few weeks time so keep your eyes peeled for further updates. Thanks for reading.**


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